(8/22/14) – CollegeSoccer360's exclusive Composite National Rankings (CNR) have returned for the seventh season in 2014, with defending NCAA champion UCLA checking in at the top spot, very near the maximum on the 100-point scale (99.67) – nearly identical to North Carolina's point total in the 2013 preseason CNR (after UNC had won the 2012 title).

Florida State (98.88), the 2013 NCAA runner-up, narrowly holds the No. 2 spot ahead of Virginia (98.51), which was edged by UCLA in penalty kicks during the 2013 NCAA semifinals. All of the CNR positions from 2-5 feature Atlantic Coast Conference teams, as North Carolina is fourth followed by surging Virginia Tech (which rounded out the 2013 NCAA semifinal group).

The top-7 teams in the final 2013 CNR (late Oct., prior to postseason play) comprise the top-7 in the 2014 preseason CNR, as Florida is No. 6 and Stanford in the seventh spot. The final 2013 CNR, prior to the postseason, featured the following 1-7: UVa–UCLA–UNC–FSU–VT–STAN–FL.

These three teams complete the CNR preseason top-10 (8-10): Texas A&M, Notre Dame and Penn State. Half of the top-10 are ACC teams, plus two each from the Pac-12 and SEC (and the Big Ten's PSU).

(Scroll down for further breakdown of the current top-50.)

Here are links to the seven elements – six core factors and one small bonus – that were used for the CNR 2013 preseason formula:

As a reminder, the CS360 Composite National Rankings are more than a simple average of polls/rankings/computerized lists (see full description at bottom of page), as in some cases both the team rankings and the voting points within a certain poll are factored into the formula – meaning that teams receiving nearly the same voting points receive similar credit in the CNR formula (even though their actual ranking in that specific poll is different) while in other cases there may be two teams separated by only one ranking spot in a poll but their actual voting points are beyond the standard deviation. Again, these factors are reflected in the CNR formula to give a more accurate depiction of each team relative to the others.

For this 2014 preseason CNR, the sixcore elements are averaged (on an initial max. scale of 60) and the final 100-point scale is completed by adding 39 and then including one bonus factor (max. 1.0) based on predicted conference finish (which could lead to an automatic bid in the NCAAs).

• Mountain West (2): 41–Colorado College & 45–San Diego State• One Each: American Athletic (23–UCF) … Summit (34–Denver) … Patriot (47–Boston Univ.)(… In the 2013 preseason CNR, the conference breakdown for the top-50 includes 10 from the ACC, nine Pac-12, eight SEC, six Big Ten, four WCC, four Big 12, three BIG EAST, two Big West and one each from the Mt. West, Summit, Ivy and Mid-American.)

The final CNR of the 2013 season – released in late Oct. (prior to the postseason) – featured six teams that are not in the 2014 CNR preseason top-50: (31) Minnesota, (36) Pepperdine, (38) Rutgers, (39) Georgia, (41) Indiana and (46) Harvard. Six other teams – – (26) Arkansas, (40) LSU, (45) San Diego State, (46) Arizona, (49) Missouri and (50) USC – were not in the final 2013 CNR top-50 (prior to the postseason) but now find themselves in the CNR top-50 entering 2014.

Several teams have made big jumps in the CNR, when comparing their standing in the final 2013 CNR (prior to the postseason) to the 2014 preseason listing:

CollegeSoccer360 introduced the Composite National Rankings (CNR) in 2008 and brought this aggregate poll concept back throughout the 2009-13 seasons. Other ingredients – NCAA Tournament projections, RPI and other power rankings, and lateseason performance – will be factored into subsequent updates of the CNR.

Notes on CS360's Composite National Rankings Formula (created by Pete LaFleur):The CNR closely resembles the composite national rankings on CS360's sister site, CollegeBaseball360.com. The CNR consists of an average of multiple polls/ratings and the CNR point totals ultimately are scaled to a convenient 100-point format.

In the raw formula, a #1-ranked team in any of the polls/ratings typically receives 60 points, the #2 team gets 59, etc. The Soccer America poll is the most basic in this regard, as it has a top-25 and no "also receiving votes" teams. When two or more teams are tied for one spot, they receive an equal share of the combined points for those spots. In the end, each team can receive a a maximum of 60 CNR points from each of the seven polls/ratings. That total then is divided by seven and then 40 typically is added to yield the score on the handy 100-point scale (at the beginning and end of seasons, the number added often is a bit less, such as 38, to allow for bonus points to be factored into the formula).

One wrinkle within the CNR formula credits teams based on voting or rating "points" in certain polls/ratings (in addition to their spots on the list; note that the NSCAA preseason poll did not include the usual voting-points information). By using this correction, teams that have virtually the same number of voting points then will receive nearly the same amount of credit in the CNR (conversely, teams that have a wider margin in votes or rating points will have a bigger gap in their credits within the CNR formula).